A Rose
by Sweet Charity
Summary: Working title, and this is a work in progress. What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
1. It Was Actually Going To Be Pleasant..

**A Rose**

A/N + Disclaimer: Working title, of course, in progress, not entirely thought out, and I am still doing a Twist of Fate. Just having trouble with ideas in that dept. Don't own it, I'm just playing around with these delightfully crafted characters to amuse herself. As this fic continues, please offer names. Please.

   Rory Gilmore found herself yet again stuck between Chilton's Advocates. Paris and Tristan. They had lockers on either side of hers senior year and she knew that life was going to be miserable.

  Paris's offer of friendship (in her own little screwed up way) had come in junior year after they won the debate. Her offer included checking over their WPMs. Rory later found out that was the closest thing to friendship Paris could actually offer her.

  Tristan, on the other hand, couldn't have been that bad, Dean had told her when she came home from the first day of school with her horrible news.

  "He likes you too much to still be so immature, Rory."

  Rory, of course, demanded he hand over the coffee and not judge a person he hardly knew.

  Of course, Dean had been right. In a way. Tristan hardly talked to her, yet alone teased her. While they still were in the same classes, he had little to no contact with her daily. Rory noticed that he avoided contact with most people.

  Then came that dreadful day. Tristan and Rory had been assigned a project. Nothing out of the ordinary. It would be too much of a cliché. The only problem with this project is that they would have to spend an entire week (including the weekend) together to get this project done.

  Rory banged her head against her locker in a foolish, public attempt to try to forget that the day had happened. Or maybe she was still trying to summarize _how_ it had happened. Or maybe she was trying to understand _why_ it had happened, but the fact still remained.

  Somebody tapped her on the shoulder.

  "Um, are you alright?" It was an obviously male voice, and it was truly concerned. It wasn't Henry's, so Rory's curiosity insisted that she see which spawn of Satan was misfiring their synapses and being nice to her.

  And of course, it had to be Tristan.

  "I suppose I am. Horrible day." Rory  stepped back a bit, opening her locker and hoping there were coffee beans inside.

  There weren't, but a bottle of those Starbuck's frappacinos was, and Rory grabbed it automatically. "Hmmm.. Coffee."

  Tristan chuckled. "Much like my white jelly beans addiction."

  Rory half-glared at him jokingly. "Do not connect my beautiful Columbian what-not with your disgusting coconut imitation."

  At this, he could only chuckle more. "You're funny, you know that?"

  Rory was surprised. Not at his comment but at the politeness of his comment. "Yes, I have been told this. Not by anyone here, that is. Except for maybe Henry, but he only thinks I'm funny because I tend to ramble. Do I ramble? I mean, going on a little, that's different—"

  She was honestly turning into a blubbering idiot. And she honestly didn't know why.

  Tristan laughed again. "You want to make the studying arrangements for this week? I'm up to anything."

  "Could we go get some warm coffee first? I only drink this Starbucks crap when I can't get to Luke's. Now the day is over and I can." Rory began to babble again, but she stopped herself. "We're going to Luke's."

  Normal Tristan would have said, "What, is that some sort of dirty biker diner where you take all your strings of secret men?"

  But this Tristan, this oddly more mature (damn Dean for being so right) Tristan, just shrugged. "I'll follow you in my car, I guess."

   Rory smiled in spite of everything that had happened that day.

  "Romeo and Juliet. Bring back any old memories?" Rory asked as they sat down at the bar, waiting patiently for Jess or Luke to emerge.

  "Yes, many." Tristan murmured. He was still playing somebody strong and silent. He had certainly been strong before, but now he seemed stronger. A different kind of strength. One with a price.

  "Good or bad, Tris?" She was silent, and the two might have given off the vibe of two old friends with a bitter past.

  "Mostly good, until I screwed up and left the one thing that was keeping me alive behind." He replied.

  Luke came out. There was a suspicious male in a prep school uniform talking to his stepdaughter, who was also in her prep school uniform. He narrowed his eyes.

  "Coffee?" He asked automatically.

  Rory smiled. "You know me well."

  "Who's your friend?" Luke spat as endearingly as possible.

  "I wouldn't exactly—"

  At the same time, Tristan said in a way similar to the way he had introduced himself to Richard Gilmore at Rory's sweet sixteen party, "Tristan DuGrey. At your service, sir."

  "If you were at my service, you'd be fifteen feet away from my stepdaughter, Tristan." Luke retorted flatly.

  "Touché." Tristan replied.

  "I like you." Luke growled after a moment. "What do you want to drink?"

  "Water will be fine, thanks." Tristan said with a shrug. Luke disappeared back into the kitchen.

  "How did you do that?" Rory asked in awe.

  "What?" Tristan sort of scowled at his confusion.

  "Luke doesn't like anybody right off the bat. He didn't even like Jess right off the bat and he's his nephew. Hell, he doesn't like Dean and I've dated him for two years!" Rory exclaimed in a loud whisper.

  Tristan winced, hoping it was an unnoticeable wince. "I guess I've got good people skills."

   Rory smiled. "So, what was the one thing that kept you alive?"

  "Don't get too cocky, Mary, it was my grandfather." Tristan muttered.

  Just as she was about to retaliate, Luke came out with the coffee and water.

  She glowered.


	2. But Then HE Came Home

  "What's to study about this play? Honestly, there's nothing about it that hasn't been said before!" Rory exclaimed as they walked through Stars Hollow.

  "This play has a special meaning to each couple who treasures it. Every pair of lovers that has this play in their house has a reason they have it there. Almost every opposites-attract romance is connected with Romeo and Juliet!" He protested.

  "Like who?" Rory demanded, stopping in her tracks.

  "Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock." Tristan suggested. Rory shook her head.

  "No, she dated a rocker before."

  "But that time it ended in controversy. She didn't want to go through that again. And yet, she picks Kid Rock as her next rocker."

  "But if she has already displayed this sort of bad-ass boyfriend tendency, then what is the point?" Rory asked.

  "You are too cynical, Rory." Tristan murmured, shaking his head and they continued walking.

  "I guess Paris's debating has gotten to me." Rory said with a shrug. "There was this one guy who cried during the debate when he saw it was Paris."

  "Ex-Chiltonite?" Tristan asked.

  "Yep." Rory replied.

  "He cried?" Tristan asked, his eyebrows raised.

  "She is kind of scary." Rory admitted.

  "But not scary enough for the courageous defender of the cynics, Rory Gilmore!" Tristan boomed mockingly and Rory giggled.

  And she scolded herself for giggling.

  "She doesn't scare me because she's a little too pathetic." Rory informed him. "She still has a Portuguese nanny for the love of Labor Day Sales!"

  "And Presidents' Day Sales." Tristan reminded her.

  "And Presidents' Day Sales." Rory agreed, laughing a bit. "This has been enjoyable."

  "Even though we have nothing done." Tristan said with a grin.

  "I've got it!" Rory exclaimed. "A debate! We could have a debate!"

  "This isn't speech class, Rory, its just Shakespeare." Tristan muttered good-naturedly, rolling his eyes.

  "But that would be the whole point. We'd prove the significance in Romeo and Juliet just by debating." Rory explained, rolling her eyes just like Tristan had done.

  "I guess we have to do a Paris-worthy research report, then." Tristan told her.

  Rory groaned. "Should we check on our WPMs?"

  "What?" Tristan asked confusedly.

  "Paris thing." Rory muttered. "Didn't make sense to me either."

   They both laughed and smiled at each other silently.

  "Well, look at the time. It's going to take me forever to get back to Hartford. Have dinner with my grandfather at his friend's house—" Tristan began, and Rory looked at her watch.

  "Oh, my God! I'm going to be late!" Rory rushed off towards her house and left Tristan in her dust.

  "And you said that it was a benefit and you _purposefully_ show up to the house late! You are my goddess! My angel! My excuse—"

  "We're going, Mom." Rory told her, shooting her a look.

  "But, since you're late—" Lorelei twirled a lock of her hair around her finger coyly. If only Luke didn't have the excuse to be working at the diner, he surely would have put a stop to this.

  Rory groaned. "You can't honestly still remember that deal, can you?"

  Lorelei nodded with a wide grin. "I'll go get it out of my closet."

  Emily rushed over at the knock on the door. "Janlen?"

  "No, it's Muscleman and Porn Star." 

  Emily rolled her eyes. "Of course, you use the back door now."

  "Well, Mommy Dearest, it would be nice if it was opened." Lorelei replied.

  Emily turned back to her guest. "I have no idea where your grandfather is, but he's sure to show up."

  At that, a bell rang and Lorelei and Rory were still standing on the back landing.

  Things had changed since Lorelei had gotten married. Rory was put through less Lorelei-teasing and now, as some sort of gift, the Gilmores/Danes had their own parking spots, and they needed to use the back door in order to avoid the mile walk. But that, clearly, was a Lorelei-exaggeration. 

  "Do you want to play the Gilmore version of ding-dong-ditch?" Lorelei whispered excitedly. Rory rolled her eyes and followed her mother to tiptoe around the hedges.

  "The longer I don't have to be seen in this shirt, the better." Rory muttered.

  "Lorelei—" Emily opened the door to see—Nothing.

  "Lorelei?"

  "Lorelei, is this your idea of some kind of cruel joke?"

  "Wow, Mom, not greeting your guests at the door. Rule number seventy-two of finishing school is broken and for once, not by me!" Emily whirled around to see her daughter in the foyer with her granddaughter, smirking.

  "Rory, what is that you are wearing?" Emily asked confusedly, and Rory groaned, stomping off to the den.

  Tristan admired the portrait of Lorelei the First, and what sounded like a strangled scream interrupted his thoughts. He turned around to see Rory, wearing a bright pink shirt with loud orange letters across the front reading, 'Porn Star'. If it didn't help that the shirt caught your eye quickly, the huge letters made everything worse.

  "Never pictured you as one, but I guess that's what I get for drawing quick conclusions." Tristan said smoothly with a genuine smile.

  To her surprise, Rory returned the grin, even if it was a halfhearted grin at that.

  "If I hadn't been late for getting home, I wouldn't be wearing the shirt." She replied snappily. But she was smiling all the same.

  "That _is_ a rather interesting shirt, Miss Gilmore." Janlen DuGrey commented, making the girl jump.

  "Excuse me, sir. I didn't see you." Rory said nervously.

  "Yes, I did dress to be camouflaged by Richard's den wallpaper." Janlen drawled with a smile. "It's a pleasure meeting you, and by Richard's description, your mother is to blame for the shirt?"

  "Partly." Rory whispered, shooting a look towards Tristan.

  "Being punctual is important, but—Your mother is most amusing, Lorelei." 

  "It's Rory. Your grandson seems to have a problem with names, too." Rory zinged.

  Janlen gave a very full laugh at this and decided there was much more to this young woman than Richard had let on. No matter how much he had let on. And on. And on.

  "Who was that man at the diner, Rory?" Tristan asked, hoping to change the subject.

  "My stepfather, Luke. Didn't you catch that?" Rory was sweet in her confusion, and Tristan smiled.

  "I am a bit slow on catching on with titles, substances, names.." He replied.

  "This we have proven." Rory whispered with a grin.

  "Oh, good, you know each other! Janlen, this is my granddaughter Rory. Tristan, Rory, do you know each other from Chilton?"

  The two teenagers nodded in response of Emily's question. Lorelei was looking at Tristan oddly, through narrowed eyes and twenty emotions flashed on her face in two seconds. Richard followed close behind.

  "In fact, Rory and I are working on an opinion piece for Shakespeare. That's probably why they were late." Tristan said smoothly, winking at Rory. "Right, Rory?"

  "No, Mom had us doing laps around the property. You know, work up the appetite?" Rory answered with a wink of her own.

  "Well, we're all here, why don't we start dinner?" Emily said suggestively, but Lorelei, Richard and Rory knew that an order was hidden beneath her cheery tone.

  Tristan and Rory sat next to each other, kicking each other whenever they thought something was funny and had to suppress a laugh.

  "Ow!" Rory hissed. "That hurt!"

  "What hurt?" Emily asked confusedly, and across the table, Janlen and Lorelei smiled.

  "That Coco Chanel death hurt me badly." Rory lied quickly.

  "I know! What an innovative woman!" Emily continued to ramble and Tristan kicked her again.

  "What?" Rory muttered.

  "I was just saying that Jackie must have drowned herself in Chanel to ignore her husband's extramarital affairs, Rory. I had no idea you'd be so interested." Emily admitted.

  Tristan kicked her again.

  "It's all your fault, you know." Rory spat.

  "Yes, I'm pretty sure that if I hadn't bought that stupid tea, my Chanel purse would still be perfectly unstained. But I honestly tried to put it through dry-cleaning." Emily continued to go on.

  Rory gave Tristan two quick jabs in the shin.

  "Ouch!" He shouted.

  "Tris, is there something wrong?" Janlen asked worriedly.

  "No, I'm just," kick, "Fine."


	3. And Began With No Regrets

  "Go on, you two." Emily urged, and Rory rolled her eyes. She led Tristan up to the room that Lorelei had labeled 'The Lair'.

  "Mom calls it the Devil's Lair and I don't blame her." Rory muttered. "Don't scream. It really is quite scary, but you get over it."

  Tristan held back a risqué and implying comment.

  She opened the door and he walked in casually. She closed the door and he let out a strangled cry.

  "N'Sync?" He murmured in horror.

  Rory nodded sadly.

  "Scary. Quite scary."

  "We have to be up here for half an hour to ensure she doesn't make us come back. Normally, Mom and I put a piece of plastic over the poster and draw mustaches and stuff. But Grandma comes in here a lot, so we don't do anything permanent." Rory explained. She sat down on her bed and Tristan was walking around the room with his left hand shoved into one of his pant pockets.

  "It must be odd having a room so—Impersonal." Tristan said after a moment, running a finger over the face of a porcelain doll.

  "This is nothing in the Emily Gilmore book. Once she handed me a bunch of Post-It's with my name on it and told me to go around the house putting them on things I wanted." Rory told him with a look of disgust. 

  "I don't regret it." Tristan stated after a pause of uncomfortable silence.

  "Don't regret what?" Rory asked, though she had an idea of what he was talking about.

  "Being a jerk. It would be too much of a cliché. I'll admit I loved to rile you up, because I knew I was getting your attention." Tristan said, not meeting her eyes. "It's nice to pretend to be friends and I guess I owe you an apology, but I will never say I regretted it. Not now at least."

  Rory was just about to lose it. "You owe me an apology, all right. You owed me an apology from the moment you called me Mary."

  "I'm sorry, okay?" Tristan offered. "But it's nice to have conflict. That's what a good story always needs."

  Rory rolled her eyes. "Dean and I never had this kind of conflict to get us 'together'."

  Tristan chuckled bitterly. "That's why it's not going to last."

  Rory was getting really angry now. "How the hell would you know? The only time you _ever_ talked to Dean was at the dance when you made an idiot out of yourself."

  Tristan bit his lip, looking like he was amused and saddened at the memory. "You'll never get it, will you?"

  He headed for the door. "I'll go into your grandfather's library. Get me when you think we've spent enough 'quality time' with each other."

  Rory watched him leave and was suddenly confused. He was always this strong, confident character. She only remembered five occasions when he had been emotional at all- The night of the dance, Madelyn's party, the following school day, that last day of sophomore year, and tonight.

  Why did he enjoy getting her riled up? Why did _she_ enjoy getting riled up? Why seemed to be the only question going through her mind. Why was he so good at this? Didn't military school teach him to be all—Good?

  She thought back. Military school had changed him alright, but he was still the bottled-up Tristan he had always been.

  "Why does she even care what I call her? Does she even realize I pay attention to her so much that the words can't come out of my mouth right?" Tristan was murmuring.

  "Not really. Rory's brilliant in every field but the love of the opposite sex." Lorelei chirped and Tristan turned around. "I swear, I was convinced that the Romeo and Juliet book was the one that you pulled out to reveal a secret passage, but after I pulled the whole bookcase down on myself, I pretty much gave up that idea."

  Tristan smiled smugly at Lorelei. She was a female, older version of him.

  "I think I played with this old fireplace in my mother's boudoir for hours to try to find the secret passage. I ended up dirty and lectured." Tristan told her after a moment. He pulled out the Romeo and Juliet book. He flipped through a few of the pages. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose.."

  "So that's your philosophy in life." Lorelei said confidently. "That makes a lot of sense. Doesn't matter who you are or what you're called, you are the one for me sort of thing. Very 'Pretty Woman'."

  Tristan looked up from the book, raising one eyebrow. "I guess I never expressed my philosophy in life."

  Lorelei looked at him, reminiscing. He was a mixture of Christopher and herself all over again.

  "At least you know what it is now." She reminded him. "I'll leave you alone in your loneliness, Bassanio."

  She was walking out when his voice reached her ears. "I'm not quite Bassanio. I'm more like—I can't truly relate to a Shakespearian character."

  "But he wrote so diversely. Can't you find yourself in there?" Lorelei asked innocently, cocking her head to one side. 

  "I am the original, Lorelei." Tristan said after a moment of comfortable silence. "Originals have no one to relate to."

  Lorelei nodded wisely. "I'll leave you in your loneliness, then."

  Tristan smiled at her sadly. "Thanks."

  Rory was still between confusion and anger when she slammed the door of the Jeep and the two sort of sat in silence for a while before Lorelei started it up.

  "The kid seems nice." Lorelei said after the long ride entering Stars Hollow.

  Rory grumbled instead of responding.

  "Very.. Me." Lorelei continued. This comment Rory could NOT ignore.

  "No. You're human. He's—The spawn of Satan." Rory muttered. "To put it in less than five syllables and subtracting profanities."

  "Something tells me, my darling daughter, that you know less about Tristan than you think you do." Lorelei whispered as soon as they had reached their home.

  The Gilmores had moved into the Danes household upon the marriage that previous summer. Lorelei had sold the home that they had had their infamous parties and movie nights, and the money had gone towards the wedding and the inn she and Sookie were still planning on opening. 

  The former home of the Danes was converted into a 'master suite' and the room that Luke had occupied earlier became Rory's. She had moved her things in upon the first day of Luke and Lorelei's honeymoon (the only week that Luke's had ever seemed to be closed) and she made Jess pay for each time he put his 'ugly, horrific, terrifying scrawl' in any of her books.

  "Hey, Rory." Jess drawled as she came into the living room (Lorelei had insisted on curtains, and Luke had insisted that she not get the Barbie ones).

  "Fugglestoop." Was all she could say. She dropped down onto the couch next to him.

  "Dinner at Grandma's not quite up to sitcom par?" Jess asked with the raise of an eyebrow. 

  She glared at him. "You know that Luke's going to send you to Chilton and you, too, will be forced to endure the horror that is dinner in hell."

  "Actually, Rory had someone her age to talk to today." Lorelei chirped as she slid onto the couch next to them.

  "Who?" Jess inquired, sitting up and narrowing his eyes.

  "Tristan the Hot." Lorelei responded.

  At the same time, Rory grumbled, "The spawn of Satan."

  Jess laughed. "Nice?"

  Lorelei grinned. "Great."

  At the same time, Rory muttered, "Horrible."

  "The kid is like me when I was his age. A lot more disconnected with his heart, that is. But a lot of logic. A blonde, rich, more clean-cut you." Lorelei explained.

  Rory snorted.

  "And he's got this unrequited crush on Rory." Lorelei added. "And evil Paris loves him."

  "Worships the ground he walks on." Rory snapped. "There's a difference."

  "His interest in Rory during sophomore year was no helper in the French department." Lorelei continued.

  "No helper? It made me fail!" Rory exclaimed.

  "Rory's exaggerating." Lorelei said. "She doesn't know the kid as well as she thinks she does."

  "Thanks for the Freud analysis." Rory muttered.

  "Freud is more Jess's style." Lorelei told her.

  "Yeah, Lorelei is more Sally Jessie Raphael." Jess reminded her.

  "What?" Lorelei demanded.

  "Sorry, I forgot you had a preference for Jenny Jones." Jess whispered. 

  "Ricki Lake would win if she didn't go Oprah on us." Lorelei said confusedly. "I just don't understand the huge glasses thing with Sally."

  "I think she was trying to go for a more matronly look. You know, Miss Minchin." Jess explained.

  "Miss Minchin was evil, if I remember quite well." Rory murmured, the space between her eyebrows wrinkling.

  "But she gave the parents a feeling of matronly responsibility." Jess told her.

  "Can we get back to Tristan here?" Lorelei demanded. "Anyway, so he said something to Rory, sort of stormed off, and that's when I started talking to him."

  "Doesn't justify anything." Rory grumbled, slouching a bit more than usual.

  "You're being unreasonable, stubborn and Loreleish." Jess told her and Lorelei smiled at him.

  "You have done well, little grasshopper. Lower your IQ by inventing your own words. Wax on, wax off." She got up. "Shouldn't you be in the diner?"

  Jess got up, muttering unhappily. "Yeah. I think I'll go in there lumberjack style, just to confuse him."

  Lorelei grinned. The pair's relationship had improved rapidly since the marriage. They both seemed to enjoy teaming up against Luke and against Rory on her bad, coffee-less mornings.

  "I think I'll join you. It would be far more entertaining on me." She said, beaming. "Backwards cap, gray t-shirt, plaid flannel shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a pair of dirty jeans. Sounds good."

  The two left, scheming more by the moment, and they left Rory in her confusion and her anger.


	4. And Befriended Her Town

  "Orange juice and waffles, please." Tristan muttered as he sat in front of the counter, his face dark and grim.

  Jess looked over the teenager in front of him. "No coffee?"

  Tristan shook his head. "Not in the mood for it."

  Jess chuckled. "If only my aunt heard that."

  Tristan tried to grin, but the bitterness came through instead. "How many people in this town are addicted to coffee?"

  Jess jerked his head towards the kitchen. "Two. My aunt and my, uh, stepcousin."

  Tristan looked up. "Is that even a word?"

  Jess shrugged. "No idea."

  "I know two coffee addicts and two is enough." Tristan said finally.

  "Coming right up."

  A moment later he handed Tristan a tall glass of orange juice.

  Tristan was sipping a bit of it when somebody stormed in.

  "What are you doing here?" An unpleasantly familiar male voice demanded.

  "Trying to get this stupid project done so I can go home and watch Dark Angel." Tristan said in a low tone, rolling his eyes a bit.

  "What project?" Dean demanded.

  "A Shakespeare assignment. I'm here early so that I can get out of everyone's hair earlier." Tristan kept a straight, cool face when facing Dean. "Your girlfriend doesn't want me, so you have nothing to worry about."

  Dean bit his lip. He wasn't going to kick the dog when he was down.

  "Just leave her alone, alright?" Dean asked in a low tone.

  "Don't worry about me. I have better things to do than go chasing empty dreams." Tristan whispered.

  Dean turned out of the diner and as soon as he left, Rory rushed up to Tristan. "What is wrong with you?"

  "Calm down, Rory. If anything, this guy was the voice of reason." Jess glared at his stepcousin and she glared back.

  "You don't know him." Rory hissed through gritted teeth.

  "You don't either." Jess countered.

  "When we're done with this Freud analysis, we can get this project done and I can go home." Tristan reminded them both.

  "Coffee. Waffles." Rory demanded, sitting down next to Tristan.

  "Here are your waffles, man." Jess handed Tristan the plate and Tristan began to eat.

  "What do you think you're doing?" Rory asked as Jess went back into the kitchen.

  "What are you ranting about now, Gilmore?" Tristan asked her, turning to face her. 

  The coldness of his eyes sent a chill down Rory's spine and it was only early October. "You're taking over my town. My mom adores you, Luke likes you, Jess is starting to befriend you, and Dean is beating you into orange juice pulp like he should be."

  Tristan looked her over again and chuckled bitterly. He turned back to his plate of waffles. "I'm using my people skills so this project can be done smoothly, quickly and with enough caliber to bring me the A plus I really need to maintain a 4.0."

  Rory rolled her eyes. "Tristan DuGrey actually studying."

  Tristan glared at her. "When you get distractions out of the way, you have an excellent path to your future."

  Rory looked at him, somewhat amused. "And what distractions might you be talking about, Mister DuGrey?"

  "You don't care." Tristan reminded her.

  "That I don't." Rory had to remind herself in a murmur.

  "Are we going to get this done, or what?" Tristan asked, raising his eyebrows and standing up. He put a ten down on the counter. "Keep the change."

  "Jess! Breakfast!" Rory demanded, almost panicking.

  "Jesus, Gilmore. I never saw you so desperate for anything besides coffee in my life." Jess muttered as he put down the plate in front of her.

  "Well, that was before HE came home." Rory shot a glare to the teenage boy standing outside of looks, just waiting for Rory to finish. Several people began to stare.

  "Somebody's getting riled up." Jess commented as he walked back into the kitchen.

  "I AM NOT GETTING RILED UP!!!" Rory shouted at him, and by now the entire diner was staring at her. 

  Rory wanted to bang her head on the counter but didn't want the maple syrup on her face. She looked out at Tristan, who was making friends with—Taylor?

  And then Kirk came along. Not long after that, Miss Patty was planning her attack.

  "WHAT NEXT? MICHEL?" She shouted to no one in particular.

  More wishing that her face was in doughy syrupiness ensued.

  "What is the deal with this stupid play?" Rory demanded.

  "Well, everyone loves to compare the people from two different worlds to it. West Side Story, Roman Holiday, Sound of Music, Bring It On.." Tristan explained. Rory looked at him like he was crazy. "Oh, you know, head cheerleader with rocker boy? Never in a million years."

  "I still don't see your point." Rory muttered.

  "Which will make this debate classic. Rory, the soft and timid one, being the cynic against the whole Romeo and Juliet study, and Tristan, the hardcore former playboy, defending the sentiments." Tristan sort of smiled for the first time since the night before. "It'll just prove the significance of it all."

  "Former playboy?" Rory raised an eyebrow, flipping the pages of her cliff notes.

  "I haven't dated anyone since sophomore year, Rory. No one important." Tristan murmured. "How about this? We work on our arguments separately and meet up a day or two before."

  Rory wanted to scream, "NOOOOOOOOO!"

  But the command sort of stopped in her throat. She gulped. "I guess that would be okay."

  Tristan spotted the disappointment on her face automatically. "How about three days before, if it makes you a little more comfortable. We can bust our butts all next weekend and get it done."

  Rory found the courage to say no. "No, this is a project we just can't blow it on. It's too vague and too difficult. We need to work together on this."

  Tristan swallowed the words he was going to say, arranging that they met the next week. "Fine. Whatever."

  "Why don't we head on over to my place?" Rory asked, hoping she didn't sound too—Hopeful.

  Tristan nodded, gathering his books and sort of closing his eyes. Two years ago he would have killed to be in this sort of situation. But now, it was killing him.


	5. And Explained His Argument

  "I'm a good person." Rory repeated.

  "That you are." Lane chirped in agreement.

  "I've got a great boyfriend." Rory reminded herself.

  "Great." Lane agreed.

  "I'm smart."

  "Genius."

  "Then why can't I resist him?" Rory demanded.

  "Who?" Lane looked up from her 'Henry' scheme. "That was a total three-sixty."

  "No," Rory grumbled guiltily, "It wasn't. That's what we've been talking about this entire time."

   "Who is _he_?" Lane asked, still confused.

   "That," Rory pointed out the window of Lane's bedroom, at a blonde guy standing outside her house, "Is him."

   Lane rushed to the window. "Oh my god!"

   "You're not helping!" Rory shouted at her.

  Lane was taken aback. This guy really had her wrapped around his little finger.

  "And the worst part about it is he thinks I hate him!" She shrieked, hiding her face in one of Lane's pillows.

  "Why would he think that?" Lane asked, going over to console her friend.

  "I might have mentioned it a few times and acted like a total Paris around him." Rory murmured in reply.

  Lane's eyes widened. "You, Rory Gilmore, acted like Paris? And not _to_ Paris?"

  Rory nodded and hid her face in her pillow again.

  "What is it with the Gilmore women?" Tristan found himself muttering.

  "I really don't know, and I live with them." Tristan turned around, and the boy from the diner was standing behind him. "The name's Jess."

  "Tristan." He mumbled. "The completely idiotic loser."

  "According to Rory, yes." Jess told him, and Tristan's face fell noticeably. "But Lorelei, she's willing to give you a chance."

  Tristan looked at him, to make sure this Jess person wasn't lying. "And why would she do that?"

  "She learned her lesson about the softer side of bad boys two ways. Through Rory's father and me." Jess patted Tristan on the back. "Keep it up. She doesn't hate you. She's just.."

  "Disconnected." Tristan finished for him. "It makes a lot of sense to me."

  Jess smirked at him, half-knowingly, half-encouragingly. "Good."

  And Jess disappeared back into the diner.

  "So, what do you have on your argument so far?" Rory asked after a moment, taking a peek at Tristan's notebook. It was blank. She laughed. "There goes your 4.0, DuGrey."

  Tristan blushed a bit. "You're right. This is hard."

  Rory smirked at him, leaning back on the couch. "If we don't get the A for content, we will get the A for originality."

  Tristan nodded. "You're right."

  "So, what _are_ you thinking for your argument?" She persisted, and he smiled a bit.

  "Well, I've said that the opposites attract thing has almost always been connected to Romeo and Juliet, right?" He asked, and she nodded. "Well, life plays out a whole opposites attract scenario. Look at you and Dean, Lorelei and Luke.."

  Rory looked at him, a little bit confused. "But, they're not, we're not.."

  "Lorelei is a former socialite that had a kid when she was sixteen, and now has a coffee addiction. Luke is all against coffee, had no experience when kids or other human beings were involved and is pretty much antisocial. They're not complete opposites, but they don't have much in common." Tristan explained, and he was surprised to see that Rory was paying attention.

  "As for you and Dean, there's really not much to say. You are the result of a teenage rendezvous and you go to a prestigious school and a mansion once a week, and he's your average suburban kid. Again, not complete opposites, but.."

  Rory smiled. "I get your point, I guess. But what about you?"

  Tristan smiled sadly. "The girl of my dreams, is, in a way, the opposite of me, and since she won't have me, I'll probably end up in an unhappy marriage with a girl like Louise."

  Rory instantly felt bad. Here she was with an almost perfect relationship and she wanted to get out of it and Tristan had nothing and nowhere to turn.

  "What about you? What is the intelligent, cynical Rory Gilmore going to say about Romeo and Juliet?" He asked, a smug smile masking (as always) what he felt.

  "I have a few arguments written out, but it'll all be based upon what _you_ say. When you decide what that is." She joked, but he sobered up. 

  "I really can't decide what to say. You can take the affirmative, if you want." Tristan stood up.

  "No, Tristan. I know that somewhere in that brain of yours, you have a connection to your heart. You'll know what to say, you will." Rory didn't know why the words were tumbling out of her mouth.

  He nodded. "I guess I need to get some air. I'm going to take a walk, okay?"

  He exited the apartment before Rory could say no.

  "So, you're.. Somebody." A perky Asian-American girl chirped, falling into step with Tristan.

  "Last time I checked." He muttered with a chuckle.

  "A Chilton somebody." She continued.

  He nodded. "Where exactly is this going?"

 "You're a hot Chilton somebody that Rory's working with and can't resist." She finished with a grand bow.

  "And you are?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

  "Lane."

  "As in the street?"

  She rolled her eyes. "As if I haven't heard _that_ one before. Lane Kim, Rory's best friend."

  Tristan kept walking.

  "Aren't you taken aback at all by this information?" She called after him.

  "It's more of a distraction than anything." He murmured in reply.


End file.
